Ok....we're here. The U.S. has borrowed as much as we can possibly borrow under current law. Where do we go from here. It's simple math that we cannot continue like this. We're borrowing money that susbtantially pays interst on previously aquired debt. In fact we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend. We must cut immediately before we spend what we just borrowed. We must cut annually the amount that we borrow. I know this would be painful. It would. There is no way around it. The fact is we've allowed the federal government to increase in size and scope to a level that is so far beyond sustainable that we as a society have become accustomed to having them do most everything for us. It has to end and it we have reached the pont that it cannot be done gradually. That time has passed. We must cut it off immediately now or suffer a fate similar to that of the Wiemer Republic or, more recently, Zimbabwe. And we all know what happened with the Wiemer Republic. The only real question left is - "what to we cut out?" I say we should move back to funding only those things specifically authorized by the Constitution. Intersate Commerce (not the extended definition as created by the judicial activists), Common Defense (not the defense of every other nation in the world or for oil), etc.

Now I know that thee will be those who complain about large business such as oil companies that should pay more in taxes because they made record profits but that argument holds no water since their profit pales in comparison to the amount of taxes currently collected on one gallon of gasoline.

The truth is that more and more people, Republicans and Democrats alike, are recognizing that government is the wasteful thief here. Changes need to be made right away.

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Anonymous
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If we don't increase the debt limit, then America admits that it cannot pay back its debts to the world. The dollar crashes, our creditors call in all of their loans, and the economy falls at a rate that has never been seen before.

Raise the taxes on the rich to where they were when this country was prosperous and we'll do fine. I say 50% on everyone who makes over a million. That's still less than the 90% that was imposed on them during Eisenhower's term.

3:41 - Or we can cut our spending by more than 40%. We can pay back our debt without creating more. We will never, ever pay back debt by borrowing more money to do it. It cannot happen. Your suggestion was to take half of what someone earns. HALF! Doesn't that strike you as preposterous? Taking half of what a person earns is tantamount to slavery. And it permits the government to become even more bloated than it alreaddy is. No. I say don't default. Don't borrow any more. Don't increase taxes. Cut the size of the federal government. Force everyone to live within their means. Cut the unnecessay spending on wars that don't need to be fought. Eliminate unnecessary and/or duplicate regulations (not all regulations are unnecessary or redundant.) Cut foriegn aid until we get our own fiscal house in order. Close that southern border and get rid of those here illegally. Stop spending on a federal level on things that should be left to the states.

And, I would add, tell China if they want to collect any of our debt, they can come eat it out of our asscrack. No aid to anyone within 1000 miles of China-let those commies wipe their own nearby nation asses for a decade or five..if they, f, I mean, mess up-drop a tactical nuke on them. It is time we stopped being a co-dependent, international wuss bag.

It's a really scary time. I suppose every generation feels like they are living on the brink, but it's all relative. For example, if we survive everything, our grandkids and their grandkids will look back and say, "Wow, you guys had it easy" but right now it seems like the end of the world. I'm actually jonesing for the cold war with Russia and the wonderfully stupid '80s.

Do you really think so T/S? I mean I get the sentiment with the cold war and the nuclear threat but this financial situation is more of a mathmatical certainty with circumstances unfolding exactly how they did in other nations in which economies collapsed. Look at Germany post WW1 and Zimbabwe. They serve as economic models we should aspire to avoid but are identical in many aspects to the path on which we currently find ourselves. When the debt payments exceeded their ability to pay them, they monetized. They fired up the presses. Inflation followed with disastrous results. Germany was invaded by armed forces from other European nations who actually siezed factories in lieu of the debt owed. With China holding so much of our debt, what will they do should we default? I think that the threat of economic collapse is very real and that we are at the precipice of being unable to avert it. The numbers don't lie. You cannot continue to borrow money to pay debt. Even at the lowest interest rate, you will eventually reach the point that the amount needed to service the interest on the debt will be beyond our ability pay while still engaging in business as usual. It is a mathmatical certainty.

I guess what you are saying is that we ARE at the tipping point where we will cease to be the #1 world superpower in a few short years? It's clear Americans are not as financially responsible as other countries, both in personal and national affairs. It's also clear that no country/empire sustains itself forever. We must fall eventually. Is now the time? Perhaps. If some very smart and very brave people don't step up to the plate very quickly, it just may be so.

T/S....I couldn't agree more. But I have to say that this has all been written. Watch Israel. Soon all the nations of the world will turn against her. I think there couldn't be a better time to get straight spiritually with your creator. Prepare for the worst and pray for the best. But I do think that we are already losing our superpower status. I think that part of being a superpower also means that you are solvent. We are obviously not if we must continue to borrow money to pay our bills.

Our public debt is a manufactured crisis. It was deliberately done by the Bush administration in an effort to squeeze the beast. The basic idea was to have a BIG party (think military industrial complex) AND big tax cut to shift the cost of that party to future generations.

The main goal of squeezing the beast is to tie the hands of future presidents with respect to social spending. This is exactly where we are today... in a manufactured crisis. Note the total lack of seriousness in discussing cuts to the military budget despite it being more costly than ever, and our wars being more stupid than ever.

I know you get tired of hearing "It was Bush's fault", but this strategy really was born with his administration.

If the crisis was real, we'd see military spending, tax cuts, and entitlement spending on the table in a big way. They are the least painful way out of this mess. In fact, they are the ONLY way out of this mess.

#2 became inevitable when we stopped getting serious about education. We used to be #1 in the world in education. Now we're something like #34.

If the world was a beehive, we'd be the drones. It's pretty clear that the world doesn't need drones.

There is nothing that Congress and the President can do to prevent our slide except to reverse our educational slide, and that's just not happening. In fact, it's quite the opposite at both the federal and state level. Does the governor of Wisconsin really believe he is heading towards a better future for Wisconsin by going after teachers???

If the debt crisis is a manufactured crisis, why hasn't Obama fixed it? Why hasn't he brought this to the light of day? That is just foolishness. No one (person, business, or government) can operate on a policy of borrowing money to pay debt. This is not a viable economic plan. This administration is at the helm and can address this problem. The very fact that we are shuffling money from place to place to pay bills hoping congress will permit the nation to borrow money to pay our bills signifies economic inviability and is a sign that we are at the end of our economic rope. If it weren't, Obama would be saying so and Gietner wouldn't be pressing congress to raise the debt ceiling. It's obvious to everyone whats going on. Even if Congress were to raise it, and I pray they don't, we would be in a jamb if other governments refused to loan us money. I wouldn't because our economic plan isn't realistic. It is a model destined for failure. Insolvency. A new economic policy needs to be employed immediately and that will necessarily involve deep, deep cuts in spending (among other things).